Benfica enjoyed a 0-2 away win on Friday evening to remain joint-top of the Portuguese league with Porto. They will have enjoyed a day off while Celtic played on Saturday and will two days training before tomorrow’s game. By contrast, Celtic player will have rested yesterday and will get no more than a run out inside Estadio da Luz tonight. With games coming thick and fast at the moment, hopefully rest is the most important requirement for the players.
Benfica shredded Spartak for most of the second half in Moscow but contrived to miss what chances they created, allowing the Russians their only win of the group so far. The return game in Lisbon was a comfortable win for the home team.
Neil Lennon has some major tactical decisions to make. He will surely acknowledge the danger Benfica pose but has to find a way of scoring an away goal or two. Match day one between Celtic and Benfica brought a 0-0 draw, ostensibly a good result for the visitors, but the group has matured since then. Both teams played that game as though it was an away game; Benfica were happy to defend and Celtic, in their first Champions League game since 2008, were keen to feel their way back into the tournament.
This time Benfica will attack with speed and hope that Celtic open up a little more than they did against Barcelona. It’s important also to acknowledge that while Benfica are no Barcelona, they will also be less predictable than the Catalans, we will not have it all our own way in the air.
It’s going to be a game tiring 90 minutes where the use of fresh legs could be crucial but an early Celtic goal would allow Neil Lennon to set his stall out clearly.
Orders are now open for the very first CQN Annual, get it here!
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weeminger
Naw, far too many inconsistencies in their story.
Too many people who knew the truth having accidental deaths just after the fact.
All the info is out there, the TV crews who were in the air after the first tower got hit, live pics of the second tower and not a plane in sight, the plane only came to our tv screens the hours later.
Tell the lie often enough………..
Photo shopping at it’s finest.
Building 7, they still can’t explain that.
Even the NYFD said that charges were set off in the towers.
I could go on, the info is there.
Nobody posts like the Gorbals Baudelaire.
I was enquiring about you within the last two days.
Hope all is well with you.
KK
As you can tell…..not quite recovered from the trauma of being born! :-)
Hail Hail
Estadio
wow! Is ellboy the spawn of The Two Musketeers?
Saw Blair sweatin’ like a grey man on a treadmill, simultaneously attempting to describe how his progeny mght profit from….oops….feel about being utterly disenfranchised. What a frickin sick world we are leaving to our children. I, for one, am a bit ashamed. The Middle East will be MacDonified – soon.
Benf
Benfica 1 – Celtic 2.
We are ALL traumatised, Estadio.
You are the only one who recognises it.
miki67 – 00:29 on 20 November, 2012
I asked the question on this blog yesterday at about 4:00pm, what has been raised to the board and what was their response? No one replied.
As you have lazy journalism so you can have lazy Internet bampots.
Who has written to the board or security officer and what was the response?
Before talking of boycotts or walkouts should we not know all the facts before we support, or otherwise, the proposed actions?
Just appears there are some bandwagons being jumped on before all facts are known and club has had opportunity to act upon any accusations.
Hail! Hail!
ESTADIO
Glad to have you back,you’ve been missed!
BMCUP
Thanks, but seriously I am not sure why I am here, what I am doing or where I am going.
Do you know about that wee moment before you fall asleep or awake where on one side of the veil lies dreams and on the other sits reality? It’s called hypnogogia!
Let me tell you about my life as a hypnogogiac!
in a minute.
Hail Hail
Estadio
the exiled tim
00:43 on
20 November, 2012
Is it true you live in a cave?
Just read back the match report thread on here from THAT night…..all 18 pages. Fantastic posts, but I singled this one out:
highlandbhoy
23:58 on
7 November, 2012
Not a regular poster but I feel that tonight is so special that I can,t let it pass without comment .
I watched the game on Sky with my family and I feel priviliged to have done this, obviously because they are my family but also because we shared something special.The only thing missing was my old man but I know he was there as he always is.
I am not a regular at Celtic Park nowadays, neither are any of my family but Christ I felt something out of the ordinary tonight.
The display prior to the game was worthy of a victory so to whoever put the time, effort and love in to make it happen, you are as much a part of it tonight as as Vic Wanyama ,Tony Watt and the others on the pitch.
This result will do so much to lift Celtic fans around the world but think it will be met in other quarters of the world with delight by people who may not be Celtic Minded but can see the result and the occasion for what it is, a celebration of all that is good in football.
Tonight only serves to remind us all of where we have come from, where we have been and where we want to go, we have done and can continue to do these things with a clear conscience and a song in our hearts.
Remember the good times and the bad times,the good times make the bad times bearable, and the bad times make the good times even better, both of them make us the special people we are.
God bless you all on this wonderful evening.
While I’m trying to find my Hypnogogia thing , here’s a wee thought and cheerio to an old friend…….
Farewell to …….
Farewell to the club deck, the Govan stand too,
The Copeland road’s silent, the blue order blue
Farewell Mister Murray, just turn off the light
Yer epitaph written in Green Orange and White.
Farewell to your five stars, yer blue white and red
Yer queen has disowned ye, declared that yer dead
Farewell to yer bouncy, Farewell, to yer sash
Yer Derry’s walls’ crumbled, Farewell to yer cash
Farewell Tina Turner, you were never the best
You cried ‘no surrender’ but failed every test
Farewell marble staircase, Farewell Mr Struth
Your last breath and whisper …..‘Farewell to truth’.
Hail Hail
Estadio
I will take on board the suggestions here. Count on it. And I will let you know what, if any response I get. I really would like some answers. It does matter. To me, anyway.
>>>>>>
My thanks go out again to ‘shady’ for sorting me out with the ticket on 7/11/12. The best footballing night I’ve ever experienced.
I hope tomorrow night is another great night for us.
And in December I hope ‘shady’ has an absolutely brilliant night at CP when Spartak & Aiden McG. come to visit with the greatest fans in the world.
HH!
Estadio
(Pours and sips a supermarket red)
You are an interesting bloke.
Priceless quality to have.
Cheers!
Still looking for Hypnogogia so if Miki67 has gone I’ll fill the gap with this…..
At some time in our brief foray across God’s sod I’m sure that we all try and rank our top ten brilliant feelings; times, moments and emotions that we would like to put in a bottle and say “this does not need the opposite side of a coin to make it special. This is not good because there is bad, right because wrong lurks in the shadows , warm because cold is an enemy or laughter’s rock around the clock because tears on the dance floor is against health and safety..
There are some moments in life when ying stands proud on the mountain top, not because of that cowardly yang still sitting at basecamp complaining of the bitter cold, but because until that mountain top swelled in our souls we didn’t even know that yang existed.
My own top ten are banal, nostalgic, sentimental and the same as yours.
Yer mammy’s smile, yer dad’s cuddle, yer sister battering feck out of the street bully; they all sit there at equal number 2 in the chart.
Up there with the pop pickers moments that will live forever when Mother Nature said “here’s yer platinum discs” stand that first (and every one since) kiss from the girl you really love, and beside it the time you held your new born baby in your arms, the one that you and the girl you kissed for one thousand and one times, pulled from the conjuror’s hat and said together ‘now that’s magic’.
So Celtic isn’t everything but then just one afternoon……..
…………
“The black and grey clad keeper’s right over arm throw down the left side of the field, the ball being taken with back to the opposition, a pretend drag towards the touchline and in one move a clip with the inside of the right foot square and found the man who knew that was where he had to be. A clattering tackle which the ref played advantage to as the ball was moved twenty yards across and ten yards forward with each pass.
The defence back-pedalling, ceding ground, but confident and in control .
The ball coming back again across the field, while little thrusts forward as holes appeared and then were filled forcing the ball backwards on pain of lost possession.
The crowd were eager and anxious, they wanted action they wanted assault, they wanted something.
But the ball came back again.
The support grew, the guttural call of the team started and with each thrust the volume increased , and this time when the attack was repelled, the volume still increased, it came back to the half way line, but the crowd knew, and the team knew, and the opposition knew, and then everyone knew,
The ball was speared with that cultured left foot 55 yards diagonally to the right and knee high to the far touchline, the winger pulled it down in an instant and that speed was what gave him the advantage, as the ball stuck equally to ground and foot under his unerring control, he didn’t so much feint as transferred his thought of taking himself and the ball inside to the right into the mind of the jockeying defender. The defender almost smiled with satisfaction as he read the thought and began the natural movement that he knew would result in a casual, and classy interception.
But the thought was a lie, it was a ruse, and the attacking winger didn’t wait to see if the defender bought it, he assumed he would and he was right, as he flicked the ball with the outside of the right foot past the slightly unbalanced defender’s left and in parallel made a wishbone with a left body swerve around the him.
The blue clad defender couldn’t go anywhere because his mind had followed where he thought the ball was going, but the ball didn’t and now his psyche wanted to go in the other direction, but his whole body was confused and rooted.
All he could do was fall backwards. He was stranded, Celtic were gone !
In a beeline for by-line, with a wicked last second bullet of a right instep cross cutting behind the back chasing defenders, whipping and homing on the converging diving bullet of a header, we knew it was there, he knew it was there, the defenders desperately trying to change direction like tom or jerry knew it was there, and we all watched as in single frame the ball crossed the line and then it happened in an instant, the net bulged, the crowd roared, the arm was raised, the stands heaved and what had been 60,000 fans watching a game of football became a single mass movement for the advancement of whatever had seized their minds……………Goal!!!! 1-0.
Aye It may be number ten in my chart, but there again everything else was equal number one.
Hail hail
Estadio
ESTADIO
Hypnogogia?
An education on here,indeed!
Good to see you too, Estadio!
: > )
Well, CQN has debated every topic under the sun, and I looked on as the financial stuff was discussed (and bored me senseless), politics raging back and forth (wanting to jump in, but not really knowing anything), and old Celtic fans talked about black and white footballers.
But I’m still here.
And at last Estadio talks about the unconscious mind.
My professional subject.
And I can’t think of anything to say.
Yeh Estadio good to read your posts again, a true gent you are
ST
Rascar –
As I prepare to head bedwards and inculcate some unconsciousness in my own mind, I’d like you to say that you won’t sneak in through the windae and smash your balls around the floor an’ suchlike…
I fret buckets over the prospect of unpleasant hypnogogic (and hypnopompic) experiences when folks like you turn up…
Bó-aire
Ha!
Not many recognise the name.
I think I’m the villain in the next film.
Estadio
You’ve been gone so long that when I went to type your name into my phone it wouldnae even predict it!! ;-)
Even at 75% capacity you’re still one of the best amigo. God bless and take care.
The appearance of Estadio, or should it be reappearance, surely qualifies as a portent for victory in Lisbon. A rare conjunction is taking place. The firmamanent has been ripped asunder and a new order is rising.
Celtic return to the scene of our greatest triumph.
Estadio visible in the Timosphere.
A youthful nascent team.
Tomorrow will see us through to the latter stages of the CL.
If you observe the stars, cast runes, read the tea leaves or practise any form of divination you will surely see the signs.
(Unless you are a Scotland based astronomer and haven’t been able to see the stars since Barcelona left Celtic Park chagrined and pointless.)
Hail hail Estadio, health and longevity.
‘GG
Estadio
01.13 Farewell… Brilliant
01.22 a different brilliant
Waiting on my taxi for airport, day trip to Lisbon, a wee visit to Estadio, my 3rd time, lunch with family who live in Lisbon, a few Superbock & Sagres, the match & hopefully, European football after Christmas.
Have a great day & night.
Hx2
Good morning,
Pretty quiet on here at the moment. Is everyone on a plane to Lisbon?
A positive story from the record :
Neil Lennon invokes spirit of 1967 as his players return to the scene of club’s greatest triumph
19 Nov 2012 17:10
THE players will train at the Estadio National in Lisbon, where Jock stein led Celtic to European Cup glory, ahead of tomorrow night’s Champions League encounter.
And by taking this current crop of young Celtic players to that old stadium in Lisbon ahead of tomorrow night’s Champions League meeting with Benfica, their manager clearly hopes that some of the old magic rubs off.
The penultimate Group G encounter will take place at the Stadium of Light but Lennon will take his players to the Estadio Nacional to train in the morning, the ground where the cup was won against Inter Milan in ’67.
Several of the Lions were on the official flight today with the trophy – which took up two seats at the back of the plane.
A win for Celtic will guarantee them a place in the last 16 with a score draw being enough if Barcelona beat Spartak Moscow and Lennon is looking for every advantage.
Speaking at today’s pre-match media conference he said: “1967 is a pivotal day in our history and we all aspire to reach those heights again.
“The Lisbon Lions are a very special team, a unique bunch of men in the history of the club, and it is very poignant that we are playing in Lisbon.
“We will train at the stadium in the morning and let these current players get a feel of what is a special piece of history for our club.
“We did it (trained there) in 2007 and it might inspire them to play as well as they can.”
Some reading from The Herald :
Ronnie Cully
Senior Sports Writer
IT is less than 1200 miles from Glasgow to Lisbon, but the journey that Neil Lennon and his players have the opportunity to complete this evening will confirm that they have all come a much longer way in a very short period of time.
inShare
Whether the yardstick is the first game in which he was officially in permanent charge, the 3-0 defeat to Braga here in Portugal in July 2010, or the first Group G game against tonight’s opponents, Benfica, at Celtic Park in September, the quantum leap in terms of improvement taken by the Scottish champions is undeniable. Tantalisingly, however, it is the final surge for the finishing line which now sits before them, and Lennon acknowledges this is likely to be the most testing stage of the entire journey.
“I don’t want the players to get carried away,” he said as he settled into the team’s hotel in Cascais, half an hour up the coast from Lisbon. “I keep emphasising we haven’t achieved anything yet. The aim was to qualify, and it still is, so we have a great foundation. We are going to have to play as well as we have done in previous games to get anything, or to qualify. It’s one of those where you’re almost there, but you can’t quite reach it. That’s the real danger when you’re in that anxious sort of zone.
“I don’t want us to be anxious. I just want them to be concentrated. Just because we’ve beaten Barcelona doesn’t mean we will get something against Benfica. So we have to approach the game in the exact same way we approached the previous games.”
That was good enough to take their European record this season to six wins and one draw from eight games in qualification and Group G. Importantly, three of those victories came away from home, debunking the theory Celtic are only a force in Glasgow.
The one defeat came courtesy of an injury-time concession at Camp Nou, and Lennon used that feeling of despair as a spur when Barcelona came to Glasgow two weeks later. Victory that night, coupled with Benfica’s defeat of Spartak, threw the group wide open and all four clubs can still go through, and all four can still go out of Europe altogether.
Lennon will not call on the memories of Camp Nou this time around, reasoning that it would not serve the same purpose. “It’s a negative, and I don’t want to bring up negatives,” he explained. “I’m aware that that’s a reality, however, and that’s why I’m trying to temper everyone’s expectation. If we could do it tonight, brilliant. It would mean we could have a nice Christmas and something to look forward to in the New Year. But we’ll have to play very, very strongly.”
While Celtic stand on the brink of an historic night, Benfica approach the game as though it was a dangerous precipice. The Lisbon club, who only achieved their first win in the section when they played Spartak at the start of the month, will need to add another to keep qualification in their sights.
Lennon senses their desperation and could utilise this. He said: “I think they’ve only got one bite at it. They know if we draw or win they’ll be out of the competition. I’m not saying we’re more relaxed about it, but we know we can still take it to the last game in Glasgow.”
Like everyone in the group, however, Lennon would prefer to get over the line at the first time of asking. To achieve that, they will need to score and shackle a Benfica attack that has plenty of variation. Rising star Rodrigo and the experienced Lima have the pace to trouble any defence, while the bulk of Oscar Cardozo – who scored a late winner the last time these teams met here in 2007 – is another serious option.
“Cardozo’s a handful,” recalled Lennon. “He looks a bit cumbersome in his movement, but he’s powerful, technically good and his goal record is fantastic. If he doesn’t start, they’ve still got Rodrigo and Lima. They’re always on the move and will give our defenders something to think about.”
Which is precisely the object of the exercise today when Lennon takes his players for a light session at the National Stadium, where the club enjoyed their greatest-ever moment 45 years ago. “What I would like the players to do is just look around,” said Lennon. “I don’t even know if there is a tunnel area now, or what it’s like. But I think about the snippets of film, when the boys walk out into the sunshine before kick-off. I want them to get a wee sense of history and think about what meant so much to so many people. It might inspire them, I don’t know, but it’s always nice to go back, anyway.”
The presence of the replica trophy awarded to Celtic is here to add to the occasion, though Lennon insists this is not at his behest. He said: “I don’t buy into that. It’s for the fans, all that sort of stuff. Really and truly, it’ll have no relevance come kick-off time.”
More pertinent is the presence of Stevie Chalmers, Bobby Lennox and, of course, John Clark, who is now responsible for Celtic’s kit. “It’s nice having the Lions on the trip,” said Lennon, before adding the caveat: “But the expectation level has gone from down there to up there in no time. I want to temper that and water it down by saying ‘Listen, we haven’t achieved anything yet.’ Barcelona was a great night. It’s gone now, but we might as well go the whole way and qualify. We’ve put so much into the group games, and I’d just like the boys to see it through.”
From The Herald again :
Eagles may no longer fly as high but can still sense a kill
Graeme Macpherson
Football Writer
CELTIC’S victory over Barcelona a fortnight ago sent shockwaves around the world.
A corner of Lisbon felt the tremors more than most. The result not only bolstered Celtic’s chances of reaching the Champions League knockout phase but also reduced Benfica’s chances of doing likewise. The general assumption when Group G was drawn was that Barcelona would sweep all before them leaving the other three – Spartak Moscow make up the quartet – to battle it out for the second qualifying spot. The Catalans will almost certainly still finish in first place but it is Celtic, rather than second seeds Benfica, who are now in pole position to progress behind them after that stunning victory over Barcelona in Glasgow.
It has left furrowed brows in sections of the Portuguese capital. Benfica, European Cup winners in 1961 and 1962 and finalists a further five times, are a club accustomed to reaching the latter stages of major tournaments on a regular basis. Last season they reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League before being beaten by eventual winners Chelsea; they reached the Europa League semi-final the year before, and the quarter-final of the same competition the season before that.
They may no longer be a club considered to be a part of the European elite but there is no doubting both their pedigree or their resourcefulness. They sold two of their best players – Javi Garcia and Axel Witsel – in the summer for a combined fee of around £50m, and have barely suffered as a result. They are undefeated in the Primeira Liga, tucked in just behind leaders Porto on goal difference after nine games, and on Friday night progressed comfortably to the third round of the Portuguese Cup. Lima, the Brazilian striker signed from rivals Braga for around £4m, has carried on where he left off last season with eight goals to his credit already.
Only in the Champions League have they not had things their own way. An opening night draw in Glasgow was thought at the time to be a useful point, while defeats at home to Barcelona and away in Moscow were not ideal but not entirely unexpected. A subsequent home win over the Russians got them back on track but Celtic’s win over Barcelona on the same night has left Benfica in something of a hole. Tonight’s game against Celtic in the Stadium of Light has, therefore, taken on extra significance.
Victory is imperative for Jorge Jesus’ side. Should Celtic secure a score draw, and Barcelona win in Moscow in the group’s other game, then Neil Lennon’s will go through to the last 16 with a game to spare. Even a win may not be enough for Benfica given their final group game on December 5 takes place at Camp Nou when Celtic will be entertaining Spartak, but the various final-day permutations will all be redundant if Benfica do not first secure a win this evening.
“Celtic will be really motivated after that victory over Barcelona,” said Jose Moreira, the former Benfica goalkeeper latterly on the books of Swansea City. “But I think Benfica, both as a team and individually, will be able to beat Celtic and take a step towards the knockout round of the Champions League.”
Benfica’s prospects will be boosted by the return of Luisao. In what surely must go down as one of the most bizarre incidents in European football this season, their captain and defensive stalwart was suspended by FIFA for two months for knocking over a referee during a friendly. He returned on Friday for the cup tie against Moreirenese and is likely to keep his place for what is Benfica’s biggest game of the season so far.
“I had hoped Luisao would have had a more difficult game on his return but Moreirense opted for a direct game and he is very strong in dealing with that,” said his manager. “It was good for him to play 90 minutes and there was no sign of tiredness towards the end.”
“We all know the importance of Luisao,” added Moreira, without a club after being released by Swansea last season. “He is the team captain and I think it will be a great boost to have him back for the game with Celtic, a match that will be decisive. He has been there for many years, understands the mystique of Benfica, and knows the club inside and out. On the field he is a leader and all his experience will be crucial.”
Good morning All,
Cant wait for it.
The guardian
Neil Lennon will invoke the spirit of the Lisbon Lions as he attempts to guide Celtic through to the knockout stages of the Champions League in Benfica .
The penultimate Group G encounter will take place at the Estádio da Luz but Lennon will take his players to the Estádio Nacional to train on Tuesday morning, the scene of the club’s famous European Cup final win over Internazionale in 1967. Several of the Lions were on the official flight on Monday where they were joined by the trophy, which took up two seats at the back of the plane.
A win for Celtic will guarantee them a place in the last 16, with a score draw enough if Barcelona beat Spartak Moscow, and Lennon is looking for every advantage. He said: “1967 is a pivotal day in our history and we all aspire to reach those heights again.
“The Lisbon Lions are a very special team, a unique bunch of men in the history of the club, and it is very poignant that we are playing in Lisbon. We will train at the stadium in the morning and let these current players get a feel of what is a special piece of history for our club. We did it [trained there] in 2007 and it might inspire them to play as well as they can.”
Lennon is guarding against the growing feeling that Celtic, with two games remaining, the last being a home match against Spartak Moscow, are all but assured of a place in the knockout stages.
“We have done remarkably well to be in the position we are in on the back of beating Barcelona but that’s gone now,” he said. “We have two huge games left in the competition. This was always going to be a pivotal game for us, regardless of the Barcelona games.
“You are never relaxed whoever the opposition is, particularly at this level. The landscape of the group can change on one night. This will be as tough as Barcelona if not tougher. The game is very important for both teams. Benfica are a formidable team at home, their domestic form is excellent and they, like ourselves, go into the game on the back of a very good win.”
The captain Scott Brown (hip), Joe Ledley (groin) and the striker Gary Hooper (hamstring) all travelled but Lennon has doubts over one of them, whom he refused to name.
He said: “Two out of three will definitely be fit. “I have a worry over one of them, we will assess him until as late as possible to give him every chance to pass himself fit. If he is not fit to start then we would hope top have him at least on the subs bench.”
So far the only source of injury news
COME ON YOU BHOYS IN GREEN
Stomachs in knots already.
Long day ahead.
God luck bhoys.
Independent
Celtic may never surpass their night in Lisbon in 1967 but they
can achieve something special there this evening nonetheless. If
Neil Lennon’s team beat Benfica they will qualify for the last 16
of the Champions League for the first time in five years.
It would be a remarkable success, at least as impressive as their regaining the Scottish Premier League title last season from Wrongers. European competition is becoming harder and harder for Scottish clubs, given the relative financial struggles of the once-powerful Scottish league.
The knock-out stages of the European Cup are certainly not unfamiliar territory for Celtic. They famously won the competition 45 years ago, the first British side to do so, beating Internazionale 2-1. That was in the now-unused Estadio Nacional, which has since been usurped by the Estadio da Luz, where Celtic play tonight.
In 2006 and 2007, they also escaped from the group stage, losing to Barcelona and Milan in the last 16 respectively. This season they can make it back into the elite end of the European club game, having already beaten the Catalan giants.
That famous victory over Barcelona two weeks ago was one of the great European nights of the modern era at Celtic Park. It was surely the finest moment of Lennon’s tenure so far. And it transformed Group G from an even fight for second place into one where, behind Barcelona, Celtic had a very obvious advantage.
Benfica are three points behind Celtic. If the Portuguese side lose, they cannot catch the Scots. A score draw, should Barcelona win at Spartak Moscow in the earlier kick-off, will also send Celtic through and Benfica out.
The hosts, then, may very well start the match knowing they need to win just to stay in the competition. The anxiety is all with the Portuguese side. Celtic assistant manager, Johan Mjallby, knows this. “We are in a great position,” he said yesterday at Glasgow Airport ahead of the flight of the Celtic squad. “There is more pressure on Benfica because they really need to win this game.”
Before the defeat of Barcelona there was another important moment, the 3-2 win at Spartak Moscow, Celtic’s first away victory in the Champions League group stage. Celtic know how to win these matches and while Benfica have some excellent players, Celtic will not be overawed.
“It is a difficult game, it’s a Champions League match away from home and we really respect Benfica, we think they are a really good side,” said Mjallby. “But the confidence is there, we have shown that we can play away from home, so why not go out and nick that vital point?”
“[Benfica] are probably going to go all out to win the game and they are going to be strong at home, a good side going forward, well organised. But at the end of the day we have picked up a lot of confidence from our away games and we know that if we defend really well we can get something from this game.”
Even if Celtic lose they will only need to better Benfica’s result on 5 December, when the Portuguese side travel to Barcelona and Spartak Moscow come to Celtic Park.
Celtic have Scott Brown and Gary Hooper fit again. “Joe Ledley and Miku are back in contention and we have to wait to see how they are tonight when we train,” said Mjallby.
BENFICA: ARTUR, PEREIRA, JARDEL, GARAY, ALMEIDA, MATIC, GAITAN, PEREZ, LIMA, CARDOZO, RODRIGO
CELTIC: FORSTER, MULGREW, WILSON, AMBROSE, MATTHEWS, COMMONS, BROWN, LEDLEY, WANYAMA*, LASSAD. SAMARAS
Kick-off Tonight, 7.45pm, Estadio da Luz
TV Sky Sports 2. Referee V Kassai (Hungary)
Odds: Benfica 1-2 Draw 10-3 Celtic 5-1
*one booking away from suspension
Don’t like to tempt fate or even offer a cheat scenario, but if we are on a result tonight I wouldn’t mine seeing Vic pick up a yellow and get his suspension over with against spartak.
Obviously the doesn’t apply if we need a result agains them ;o)
Is there an amnesty once through the group ?
COME ON YOU BHOYS IN GREEN
Canamalar,
I may be wrong but don’t think there is an amnesty.
I agree with what you’re saying about Vic. Take the yellow tonight and leave him available for last 16.
Right, F’in work beckons.
neil canamalar lennon hunskelper extrordinaire
06:14 on 20 November, 2012
Don’t like to tempt fate or even offer a cheat scenario, but if we are on a result tonight I wouldn’t mine seeing Vic pick up a yellow and get his suspension over with against spartak.
Obviously the doesn’t apply if we need a result agains them ;o)
Is there an amnesty once through the group ?
COME ON YOU BHOYS IN GREEN
I believe there is amnesty once through to the knockout phase.
If there’s an amnesty then I’d rather he doesn’t pick up any and it’s a big butt :o)
We don’t want him booked against spartak, cause he’d be sitting out the first game of whatever comp we’re in. A bugger it with a result tonight it’s still the wisest move to take the yellow, but for time wasting or something like that, no fouling, well unless he’s got a score to settle :o)
Good morning friends from East Kilbride where the incessant rain appears to have finally ceased for the moment.
This Is The Day – rejoice and be glad in it.